Racism by any other name is still racism. And it is still despicable and inexcusable, even when hidden behind a faux façade of “patriotism,” “respect for the law” and “national security,” as it is when immigration is involved.

Politics is making me sick. I have written about pandering, broken promises, partisan spin, opinion polls, situational ethics, flip-flopping, echo chambers, red and blue states and all the rest for 30 years. And it has taken a toll. I've never been more cynical or more distrustful.

It's seen by some as just one of the many paradoxes you'll find at the border. But if you think about it, it makes perfect sense that about half of the agents in U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are Hispanic.

Unlike the recent prison release of star Philly rapper Meek Mill, no helicopter swooped down on Diamond Street in front of the Church of the Advocate to whisk Carmela Apolonio Hernández and her four children to freedom.